Communications, and particularly Internet protocol communications, are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's society. The increasing use of Internet protocol (IP) phones in combination with other network devices has created a situation where the IP phone serves, in essence, as a hub for other network devices. One example of this implementation is the connection of a personal computer or a work station to an IP phone that is connected to an upstream switch.
Currently there is no mechanism for a switch that is acting in the role of an IEEE 802.1X Authenticator to be notified of a link event where there is a non-authenticating intermediate device connected to its port. For example, in the above-described implementation, there is no way to notify the upstream switch when the personal computer or workstation is disconnected from the IP phone. This inability to detect the link going away creates a situation where a device plugged into the intermediate device can authenticate into the network and then being unplugged, leaving these port enabled. This is problematic because another device could then be plugged into and acquire use of the network without having to authenticate into it. This situation occurs, for example, when a personal computer is plugged into the personal computer port of an IP phone. Because the phone does not implement an 802.1X Authenticator Port Access Entity (“PAE”), the attached personal computer authenticates with the upstream switch. Because the personal computer is not directly connected to the authenticator, a link event cannot be detected.